Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry appointed on Monday Ambassador Ahmed Abu-Zeid as the new spokesman for the ministry and the Director of the Public Diplomacy Department.
Abu-Zeid succeeds Ahmed Hafez, who was appointed by a Republican decision as ambassador to Canada.
Hafez will head to Ottawa in the coming few days to assume his new post after spending nearly four years as the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The newly-appointed spokesman returned from Canada where he served as Egypt's ambassador in Ottawa since 2018.
Abu-Zeid previously held the position of official spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
He served as counselor at the Egyptian embassy in Washington DC and at the Egyptian consulate in San Francisco.
He was a member of Egypt’s permanent delegation to the United Nations (UN), in New York.
Abu-Zeid also worked for 10 years in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi, former assistant foreign minister, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the return of Ambassador Abu-Zeid to his position includes new tasks, namely his work as director of the Public Diplomacy Department.
“This is considered a diplomatic promotion and assuming greater tasks,” Bayoumi said.
He added that the movement of ambassadors and diplomats is subject to many criteria, including the so-called annual competency report.
“Abu-Zeid’s success when he previously held the position of FM spokesperson and his subsequent diplomatic duties qualified him for the position,” Bayoumi said.
